The Accidental Medium

To Our Readers:
This is the continuing email conversation about Ghosts between my old friend McFly and I to help him with his Ghost Tours of New Orleans. Here are Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 and Part 6.

Dear McFly,
I decided I should cover the much affronted, often shunned Ouija Board in this missive, along with some pointers to practice safe psychic with this tool. So the next question added to the list is:

#7   What about using a Ouija Board to contact ghosts?
Well first of all, Ouija boards have been around for hundreds of years in one form or another, allowing “regular folk” to talk to spirits – no Medium, training or séance required. You can even make your own. Whoo Hoo!  A deal at twice the price.

“Ouija board” is the official name of the Parkers Brothers game but its generic version is a divination tool that is also referred to a “spirit board” or a “talking board”.  Some people conjecture that Ouija means “Yes, Yes” – from the French word “Oui”and the German word “Ja”.

Note to the Uninitiated:
A Ouija Board – pronounced “Wee Gee ” – is a flat board marked with letters, numbers, words (commonly Yes, No, Hello, Goodbye, Maybe) and other symbols. It uses a planchette (a small 3-legged heart-shaped piece of wood) or a pointer such as an overturned glass.  The fingers of the participants are lightly placed on the planchette or pointer and one of the participants ask a question of any “spirit” present: The planchette seemingly slides of its own accord across the board until it stops over one of the words or sometimes spells out an answer to a question on the board.

Schools of Ouija Thought.
There seem to be three schools of thought about the Ouija Board:  Some users see it as just a fun game – and they leave it at that.  (2) Other users believe that they are in contact with Spirits who are spelling out Ouija Board answers to their questions (3) Skeptics believe Ouija Boards are totally bogus and that those using the board either consciously or unconsciously move the pointer to what is selected.

In the ghost-hunting world (of which I am not apart), there is a macho faction where individuals ‘prove’ how courageous they are by going into haunted places, turning off the lights and using the Ouija Board – alone with a flashlight.  Commando Ouija – It’s silly.

I personally believe that the movements of a Ouija board CAN be the result of contact with Spirits, and it can ALSO be unconscious movements by the Users.  In my particular family, with our lineage of intuitives, I believe the Ouija Board often acts as a Spirit Board.

The Ouija Board Talks
My first cousin recounted to me a story of long ago, when my older brother and cousin were 8 and 9 years old.  They were using our Ouija board at our grandparents old farmhouse and came into contact with a 3-year old girl who spelled out her name E-M-M-A, and gave them the message that she had died there and was their cousin. The young Ouiji’ers went to our parents and grandparents, asking them about “Emma”.  The elders were quite shaken by this, asking – How did you know about her?

There was indeed a little girl who died on the farm, before my Mom was even born. The little girl was my great uncle’s first daughter and her name was Emma.  She died of “the preefie” (a generic term for some long forgotten disease). Discussion of Emma was off limits in the family because it was too hard on my great Uncle, and then as time went by, Emma’s existence was all but erased from the family history- until some 50 years later when my brother and cousin were playing around with our Parker Brothers Ouija Board.

Ouija Board goes off limits.
From then on, my brothers and I were not allowed to use the Ouija Board and our own copy of the game mysteriously disappeared from our household.  Some of my cousins, aunts and uncles still use the Ouija Board for a fun evening at the cottage, or as a New Year’s party game.  They have had some amazing “contacts”.  They keep asking me to join in, but I defer. Maybe one day. When I was younger I was too scared to participate because I was terrified of ghosts. And now I can have my own chats, so what’s the point?

Should you use a Ouiji Board?
It’s up to you.  But if you do, there are some caveats. It’s important to know that in using a Ouija Board, you don’t get to choose who comes in. They do.  You may get someone who is in Spirit (from a higher realm who is all love) or someone who is in ghost form (from the astral planes that closest to our physical realm).  Some ghosts are nice, and some are not: You could be giving an open invitation to anyone. You don’t get to choose. Your front door is wide open.  Would you let just anyone into your house? As we’ve discussed, some spirits who have not passed over, a.k.a. some ghosts can be troublesome.

Be Prepared.
Just as we have some nasties on this side of the veil, you may get nasties coming in from the astral planes. You want to be prepared beforehand to make sure a lowlife doesn’t glom onto you – giving you an icky feeling, anxiety, extreme fear or even depression.  Ghosts can be troublemakers that can mess up your aura and make you feel “off”, upset, ungrounded or downright sick.

Spiritual Protection.
Spiritual protection work sounds kind of scary but it’s really about boundaries. Before we venture out into the big world, we need to have our boundaries in place or we get used and abused. It’s no different when hobnobbing with ghosts: it’s important  to create a psychic perimeter of protection around you that tells the lowlifes to buzz off.

Awareness is Key.
Just the awareness that some ghosts can be a pain in the butt can help you keep your natural guard up against a lowlife.  In other words, ‘they know you know about them’ and will more likely stay away.

You can do a visualization.
Before you begin using the board, wrap yourself in sparkling white light from head to toe – encapsulating yourself in a cocoon of protection.  White light does wonders in keeping the ‘ner do wells away.

Call for Back-Up.
If you are so inclined, you can call in your Spirit Guides and Angels, asking them ‘to protect you and clear away any entities that do not have the highest good for all involved.’ You don’t have to know your guides and angels to call them in. You don’t even have to believe in them. Just do it. The more you acknowledge your spiritual posse, the more you will become aware of them and benefit from their support.

Your Spirit Guides.
Spirit Guides are loved ones who have crossed over. You may have known them from this life or another life. They are here to support you on your journey.  You just need to ask for their help. We have access to many guides. Some are with us for life, others at specific times.

The Angelic Realm.
Angels are very real beings from the very high realms: They are non- denominational – in fact many denominations speak of angels – and are not just a product of Hallmark or the Bible. Some say angels have never incarnated on earth, others say that angels can incarnate in a human body.   I don’t think it matters, other than to know that Angels are messengers of Pure Consciousness, God, Allah, Yahweh, Vishnu, Krishna, All That Is, The Divine, Source,  or whatever you prefer to call the omniscient higher power at work every where in the Universe.  We all have at least one angel assigned to us, who watches over us for our entire lifetime.  So if you’ve ever felt you were somehow divinely protected in a particularly dangerous situation – you were. And you are.

A prayer works.
You can also try a group invocation at the beginning of the game, and order that only those with the best intentions and bringing the highest good for all involved be allowed to come in this evening.  You can use your own words to create your prayer, but you get the idea.

Your intention.
Did I mention that Ouiji Boards should only be used for the highest good of all involved?  That goes for this side too. Don’t use it to find out things that are none of your business, manipulative or underhanded.  By using a Ouija Board for ill-intent, you will likely bring in lower vibrating entities who will be dishonest, may say harmful things, and possibly glom on to your lower vibration and take you for an uncomfortable ride.

If you get slimed..
If you start to feel icky during or after using the Ouija board, call it out. “I feel ill!  If there is an entity that is not welcome here, I demand that you leave this instant!”   Again, awareness will banish most lowlifes.

To be on the Safe Side
Whether or not you feel you’ve been infiltrated, you can “cut your chords” during or after a Ouija outing: Literally do karate chops in front of you, and say “Cut!” or “No!” and that will cut any energetic ties to you.  I also strongly suggest that you take an Epsom Salt bath or shower if you have been out hobnobbing with the other side – this will help clear your aura.  Water does that.

Protection work in haunted places.
I also suggest that people do some kind of protection work when they go into a known haunted zone. Wrap yourself in light. Call in your guides and angels. Ask that only those entities who have the best intentions for all involved be present.

And speaking of present…
You’ll want to keep your fear at bay so stay present. How do you do that? Fear is about worrying something will happen in the future. You feel no fear if you are in the present moment.  If you start to feel fear take over you, concentrate on your breathing (feel the air go in and out), tell a joke, sing a song, whistle,  get angry (yell at the air telling the unseen to back off if they do not have the best intentions for all involved). I’ve been known to recite some of my childrens’ favorite poetry such as the family classic, “Cuddles the Cow”.  That kind of thing.

Archangel Michael.
If you are feeling freaked, call Archangel Michael to come in and protect you and banish all low vibrating energies from the space. It really works, and you don’t have to believe in angels to make it happen.

You might feel stupid – but you can call Archangel Michael in your head. Just do it.  It’s amazing how the air clears when you do that. And don’t worry about bugging Archangels for seemingly mundane things like feeling the hair stand on the back of you neck. Angels are happy to help – That’s their job. They’ll come with you even if you aren’t scared. All you have to do is remember to ask. (And say Thank You afterwards).

All this information is not meant to scare anybody.
It’s meant to make you more aware. Awareness of the potential pitfalls of fraternizing with ghosts can help you to avoid said pitfalls. I imagine some of my relatives will say all this protection work is really not necessary – but the more sensitive you are, the more you need to delineate and make your boundaries known. You don’t want to bring home any unwanted stragglers.

There you have it, McFly – Ouija Boards 101, along with an introduction to Spiritual Protection.  Are you ready to say “Oui” to the Ouiji?

I trust your Ghost Tours will rock and go bump in in the night…

Tida (a.k.a The Accidental Medium)

— With thanks to Spirit for infinite return.
(c) 2010, 2011, 2012 The Accidental Medium. UltraMarine Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.